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Less then two months into his reign as Socceroos manager, the signs have so far been promising for Holger Osieck. I’m not alone in being struck by the German’s determination not to make the same mistakes his predecessor Pim Verbeek did.
The occasional media “gaffes” of the Verbeek era look to be a thing of the past and we’re starting to see a little bit more of Osieck’s personality then we did with Verbeek.
Where it took about nine months for the Dutchmen to appear on SBS’ The World Game, Osieck was on the program within a matter of weeks.
I was also pleased to see the Socceroos boss make an appearance at a Young Socceroos training session last week.
There’s been positive change on the park as well. I’ve been particularly impressed with the way the former German national team assistant coach has released Jason Culina to join the attack immediately after Australia wins the ball back.
Coupled with the number of players getting into dangerous positions in the opposition’s penalty area and it’s safe to say the Verbeek shroud of cautiousness is starting to peel away.
So with that in mind, the squad Osieck will announce today will help shed more light on the 62-year-old’s plans for the Socceroos.
For the friendlies against Switzerland and Poland Osieck essentially selected Australia’s World Cup squad, giving the incumbents a chance to prove themselves to the new manager.
Yet with the Asian Cup in January quickly approaching, Osieck can’t afford to dawdle and sticking with this approach for any longer would be risky.
Injuries aside, the squad that comes to Sydney for the Paraguay friendly next week must form the nucleus of the one that will go to Qatar in a few months time.
So where can we expect change?
As I understand it, some of the Asian based Australians have already been sounded out and it couldn’t come sooner with Japanese based defender Matthew Spiranovic suffering a terribly disappointing injury on the weekend.
While in my opinion Spiranovic must start from now on for the Socceroos as long as he is fit, his absence allows Osieck to consider his back up players in that position.
Considering the tournament and the fact the Socceroos will be up against Asian opposition, it would do the Socceroos well to have players who are accustomed to the conditions and have already thrived in them, especially in defence.
In other words if Eddy Bosnar or Sasa Ognenovski don’t make it into this Socceroos squad I doubt they ever will.
The other position I’m starting to become concerned about is Carl Valeri’s.
For me, the 26-year-old was one of the standouts of the World Cup for the Socceroos and has done enough to deserve his chance not just in the Socceroos squad but the starting XI.
Except for one small problem: he simply isn’t playing in Italy.
Instead of kicking on from a successful campaign on a personal level in South Africa, things have gone belly up over recent months for the Australian midfielder at Serie B outfit Sassuolo.
The Neroverde originally signed Valeri with a mind to on-sell him to a Serie A side following the World Cup but a move never eventuated.
With the manager who brought Valeri to the club, Stefano Poli, sacked in the off-season despite taking Sassuolo to the Playoffs in their first ever season in Serie B (he’s currently leading Chievo’s successful Serie A campaign), the Australian has found himself under a new coach in an over subscribed position.
Valeri needs regular game time and fast.
How Osieck handles this decision, much like his options at the back, will tell us a lot about his intentions with the Socceroos.
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